I first accessed Planned Parenthood at the age of 17. Like most teenage girls, I was not comfortable discussing my sexuality with my parents, and the concept of actually making my own doctor appointment with my family doctor (a man) lacked appeal. Planned Parenthood had come to our high school during Family Life class to speak about birth control, so I already knew about the services they offered.
So after a year of close calls and unprotected sex with my boyfriend (gasp) I took myself to Planned Parenthood -- luckily, just a bus ride from my house. I had my first pelvic exam and PAP smear done at Planned Parenthood, and it was Planned Parenthood that prescribed my first birth control.
I continued to access Planned Parenthood for my birth control throughout my college years. I went to Planned Parenthood when I thought I might be pregnant (back in the days before OTC pregnancy tests) and discovered in their offices that yes, indeed, you CAN get pregnant on the pill.
And it was Planned Parenthood that provided counseling and informed me of my choices. Planned Parenthood also informed me that I would need to make my decision quickly, because I was actually into the second trimester, and would need to find services before 20 weeks.
It was Planned Parenthood that gave me the list of abortion providers in the state. Unfortunately, none of those were within a manageable drive of my university, so I had to wait an additional couple of weeks until I returned to my hometown, where I could access a 2nd trimester (but pre-20-weeks) abortion.
It was Planned Parenthood that did my abortion follow-up care. It was Planned Parenthood that continued to prescribe my birth control until I got married and had a family doctor (and after I moved to Canada).
It was Planned Parenthood that diagnosed the two STIs that I've had. It was Planned Parenthood that provided me with treatment options for those STIs. It was Planned Parenthood that I visited for an exam once I had moved back to the US, was between insurance providers, and needed to access affordable care.
And it was to Planned Parenthood that I took my oldest son and later my stepdaughter when they wanted to access birth control. It was to Planned Parenthood that I took my oldest son when he and his girlfriend had an unplanned pregnancy.
Planned Parenthood has been an integral, vital part of my healthcare and subsequently my family's healthcare for over 35 years. I am an avid supporter, and do my best to educate those around me about what Planned Parenthood does. So I am offended and outraged when a small group of Republican legislators decide that -- despite all evidence to the contrary, and despite the wishes of the American public -- it would be in the best interests of our country to defund this bastion of affordable health care for men and women.
I want to collectively slap them.
I want to drag them to the poorest neighborhoods in this country and show them what the healthcare services are that people can afford.
I want to shake them out of their middle-class and upper-class complacency and show them that for the bulk of America, THIS is our reality.
And in particular, I want to shake women like Carly Fiorina and the commenter I saw on FB -- women who claim there are other affordable resources, that Planned Parenthood really doesn't provide services that women can't get elsewhere, etc. -- shake them until the few brains they apparently have left rattle something loose in their heads, in hopes that maybe it will wake them up.
I want to wake them up and ask them this: if you take away access to Planned Parenthood in rural communities, how will you identify and stop the spread of these diseases when the only affordable testing facility has closed its doors?
Years of failed economic policy has driven much of rural America to the brink. Too many people in "red" states are reliant upon whatever limited access they have to affordable healthcare to provide testing, diagnosis, and treatment. Take that away and what is left?
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